Saturday 28 January 2006

Internet statistics for Croatia

As I was doing research to have an informed discussion about some aspects of internet ''market'' in Croatia and southeastern Europe, I've been looking heavy at available statistics. I wanna share some main findings.

Statistics about internet usage in Croatia. The poll was conducted in November 2005 by Gfk Croatia ( web site down ).
It'a about croatian internet users, internet penetration rates in Croatia, housholds who own PC, users habits, and structure of croatian internet users.
For understanding wider context, please see CIA's WordFact book, World Internet Stat page.

The main findings:

  • - 35 % people said they are internet users ( among those 15 years older ),

  • - 48 % croatian housholds has a PC at home ( 7 % of them have laptop computer ),

  • - 35 % said they have internet access,

  • - 0,6 % has a broadband ( Turkey leads southeastern Europe by 0,7 % broadband rate , exluding Slovenia )- though, this number is at the end of January much higher ,

  • - 50- 50 % internet usage by gender,

  • - Users among those 15- 24 years 34 %, those among 25- 34 % - 27 %,

  • - Usage among croatian regions: 35 % Zagreb capital, 20 % Dalmatia ( southern Croatia ) , 14 % Istra and Primorje, 13 % northern Croatia, 12 % Slavonia and Baranja ( eastern Croatia ),

  • - Usage by households monthly earning : 30 % - 6.000- 8.000 kunas ( about $ 1150 ), 30 %- more than 8.000 kunas ( more than $ 1150 ), 25 %- 3.500-6.000 ( about $ 740 ),

  • - The point of internet acces, ( most used ): 68 % at home, 20 % at work , 6 % at education institution,

  • - The frequency of use: 37 % - every day, 28 %- several days a week, 12 % - once a week ,

  • - The reason for using internet: 66 % - email, 59 % - daily information and news, 47 % - literature, 26 % - games and music, 17 % - travel, 15 % paying bills, 14 % - chat, 7 %- shopping ,

  • - Average time spend on the net ( weekly ) : 37 % - 2,5 hours, 25 % - 2,5 to 5 hours ( 9 % of users said they consider them self internet addicts ),

Tuesday 24 January 2006

Dayparting matters

See how Google defines dayparting.
It's about time of a day and the web site's content .
Of course, and his majesty User.

Seattle PI tested those dayparting concepts and learned the lessons.

It's useful after all, but not for all purposes and radical intervention of user interface.
It's about content. Picking up potentially most interesting content during the day which matches user's expectations . Think how television serves eary moring programmes and in the evening ''prime-time'' programming.
Still, on the internet is similar analogy not possible having in mind it's not broadcasting as we know it.

In the world of allways-on connections, people will be using more video and audio content on the internet.
Judging for myself, let's suppose, in the morning I'll be more willing to consume news/weather info doses and in the evening I'll be coming to my preffered web site ( networkd/ring) of choice looking for entertainment.
Brands who can give me such a ''complet'' daily experience will be my preffered media on the web. Sometimes it's tricky , though.

But in the reality , it's the abundance of information on the web that makes me to choose few content providers so I can quickly and efficiently get informed and entertained.

Related:

Sunday 22 January 2006

Office Live to break low-end hosting ?

After reading PC World's article about Microsoft Office Live services coming to pre-beta phase, one thought poped up in my mind.

If Microsoft says that Office Live will be at first aimed at business users including triple-bundle of free web domain ( subdomain ), hosted site and e-mail app, could it put pressure for low-end hosting companies ?
Microsoft released pre-beta e-mail for Office Live about two weeks ago that said the service will offer a free Web site with a domain name, hosting services, online business applications, and e-mail, according to LiveSide.net.

Microsoft stated before its intent to gain users among SMB crowd.

So, logical step for Google would be to make similar tactics ( Gmail's way ) and make triple- bundle including domain names, hosting ( significant storage and building app ) and e-mail app.

Hosting is commodity these days, and Google would get opportunity to sell ads on basic accounts ( pro versions would be paid , just like MSN's ), and users will get more choice , in straightforward manner , for internet presence.

Friday 20 January 2006

Birthday post

Just a quick note; today's my 4th year of blogging.
Nice.
It all started with blogger.com and the story goes further ;)
Yes, I tried many other tools and places...
I re-discovered myself....

Saturday 7 January 2006

The new normal TV

Engadget is covering live Intel's announcement from Las Vegas and is covering all things related to Viiv.

Clickstar services is praised by Morgan Freeman as ''the future''. Maybe they should look for a while here in Croatia to see what small company Vodatel has been doing with its eTV concept and Media Center ( croatian lang.)

And, as Paul Otellini ( Intel's CEO ) says ''Welcome to The New Normal.'' Think hype ;-)

Bluetooth renaissance

2006 ? The year of Bluetooth ? Nokia thinks so.

Me too.
Here's why. The danish city of Aalborg and its practical use of bluetooth. This space , apps having in mind, is positioned to boom.
Europeans seems to be leading the path.

UPDATE , on January 12th 2006.
. Oh, boy, I was right.
Strategy Analytics asserts that the market for Bluetooth-enabled devices grew to more than 272 million units in 2005, twice the number of units shipped globally in 2004, as outlined in "Bluetooth Doubles: CSR Still Gaining Momentum."

Friday 6 January 2006

User generated mobile guide

Ubimate featuring IBM Zurich.
UbiMate is a mobile city guide which utilizes the collective power of the mobile user community to generate customized recommendations. It looks at what like-minded user have done in the past under similar context (e.g., location, weather) to predict what the current user may like to do. It currently has two location setups, New York and Zurich.

Nice. Looking for network effects to make more sense. The city of Zurich and NY are supported.
Here's New York Ubimate with weather and other recommendations.



Chitika delays payment to web publishers

Chitika advertising network caught my eyes few months back with nice adverts ( eMiniMals ) placed between blog posts. It looked nice and unobtrusive. The concept was promising, in my view.

That's how should blogvertising look and even light web marketing for micromedia.
Jensense.com reports newest problems publishers are having with Chitika.

Payment is no easy task.
Dealing with money is allways sensitive, and it should be treated so.

Some bloggers were apparently naive and greedy, and now this is their pay off ;-)